By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.75 cats
Director: Gregg Araki
Starring: Bill Sage | Brady Corbett | Elisabeth Shue | Joseph Gordon-Levitt | Mary Lynn Rajskub | Michelle Trachtenberg
Country: united_states
Year: 2005
Running time: 99
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370986/combined
Bruce says: “We all bring our own baggage into every experience. It is hardly surprising that the effect of any common experience and the baggage we carry away from it will vary for each of us. Most of the time, the differences are a matter of nuance. Not all the time. Gregg Araki’s MYSTERIOUS SKIN explores the extremely different ways that two small boys in a small Kansas town are affected after being sexually molested by their little league coach when they were eight years old.
“Neil McCormick (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the best player on the team, was the first to receive overtures. He lives with his mother and his first experience with a ‘wet orgasm’ is as a voyeur, catching his mother and one of her gentlemen callers going at it. As a small child he thinks the coach (Bill Sage) is dreamy, like one of those guys in Playgirl that his mother keeps under the bed. The coach asks Neil’s mother if it is OK for Neil to go out with him and some of the other kids for pizza. When no other kids show up, the coach takes Neil to his house and the two of them go to the kitchen for a snack. Neil wants cereal when he spots a Kellogg eight pack in the cupboard. The coach opens one of the packages and pours the cereal on his head. Neil does the same. Before long cereal is flying everywhere and suddenly the coach is on top of Neil and the multi-colored cereal is crushed into the arabesque patterned tiles on the kitchen floor. When the coach tells him that he is his favorite, getting Neil to have sex with him is easy. ‘I felt honored,’ is how Neil feels ten years later.
“Brady Corbet (Brian Lackey) had nosebleeds and blackout periods at the age of eight. His father is disinterested in child rearing and his mother is a caricature of a Midwestern housewife, fussing about in fulsome ways. Brady has bad dreams. One has Neil setting off rockets from his mouth and giving him oral sex. Another involves Brady and his mother on the roof of their house watching a UFO approaching. Growing up he is convinced that UFOs are responsible for his blackouts and that in 1981 five hours were taken mysteriously from his life. In his late teens, Brady sees a TV show about UFOs featuring Avalyn (Mary Lynn Rajskub), a young woman also from Kansas, who was also abducted. He writes to her and they strike up a friendship. When Brady visits her in person, Avalyn show him the scar where aliens have implanted a tracking device. When Brady confesses to having nose bleeds, Avalyn commiserates ‘Ah, the old up-the-nose trick.’ Brian Lackey expertly conveys the total damage that the experiences of youth have rendered.
“Neil progresses from precocious little leaguer to a sexy, cocksure hustler. His specialty is older men about the same age as the coach would be at any point in time. Nothing mysterious about what is going on with Neil. Everyone loves him; his mother (Elisabeth Shue), his soul mate Wendy (Michelle Trachtenberg) and his best friend Eric (Jeffrey Licon). He has a cavalier attitude towards his sexual adventures and, not unlike most males his age, has the notion that no harm can come to him for he is immune and invincible. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance is self-assured and magnetic. He first shows us Neil’s the tough-as–nails exterior, then has us convinced that underneath the veneer lies a warm and generous soul.
“I really did love this film but to be fair I should point out its flaws. Subplots involving Neil’s friends Wendy and Eric are not quite satisfying – first, because they slightly diminish what is a terrific expression of childhood trauma and second, because Michelle Trachtenberg and Jeffrey Licon do not have the talent to match the rest of the cast. The success of this film lies in Araki’s ability to help us understand the human condition and to simultaneously entertain us while doing so. The story line switches back and forth between the two teenage boys interspersed with flashbacks of the two boys at the age of eight. Add in a few dream sequences to complete the whirlwind of activity. The positives of this film outweigh the negatives to such a degree that I hardly remember there were things about the film I did not like. 5 cats
“This film was shown at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival”
Michael says: “Based on the powerful novel by Scott Heim, MYSTERIOUS SKIN is Araki’s most mature film to date. Brian is 18-year-old and still suffering from frightening nightmares that bring him back to a day when he was eight and he believes he was abducted by a UFO. Neil suffered a similar experience to Brian when he was eight, but has matured into an aloof loner who hustles to make life in his small Kansas hometown bearable. While Neil’s search for something to fill the emptiness in his heart leads him to New York City, Brian searches for Neil with the hopes that this stranger who shared a life-changing moment with him will be able to give him the answers he’s searching for.
“Araki has created a stunningly beautiful and powerful film, capturing the essence of the innocence of childhood tinged with the darkened boundaries lurking in the fringes. Strong acting performances by the two leads (Brady Corbett; Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are enhanced by a strong supporting cast including Elisabeth Shue, Bill Sage, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Michelle Trachtenberg. MYSTERIOUS SKIN deals with some serious issues, but in an adult and refreshing manner. 5 cats”
Carolyn says: “SPOILERS!
“This movie is the parallel stories of two boys, Brian Lackey and Neil McCormick, who play on the same Little League team. Neil grows up to be a heartless trick who fucks every man in his small Kansas town. Having had enough, Neil follows his childhood best friend, Wendy, to NYC. He continues to make money the only way he knows how, as a young slut. Despite the warnings from Wendy to be careful, Neil gets himself in some dangerous situations. The night before returning to Kansas for Christmas, he unenthusiastically accepts a ‘ride.’ He is fucked and beaten senseless in the man’s bathroom. Brian, who is fairly nerdy, believes that he was abducted by aliens. He writes to a fellow abductee, Avalyn, he sees on a TV program. With her help, Brian decides that N. McCormick from his Little League team photo figures prominently in discovering what happened to him as a child. Neil has just left for NYC when Brian shows up at his house, but he meets and becomes friends with Neil’s friend Eric. When Neil returns for the holiday, Brian gets confirmation that he was not abducted by aliens, but rather he was sexually abused by their team coach one day after practice and one Halloween a few years later.
“This movie was not perfect, but more than FAHRENHEIT 9/11 it has me thinking about it the day after. The characters were well-developed and realistic. Outcasts of every sort unite! Each character is unique, but it is believable that they would interact because they don’t fit in hickville, Kansas. The audience grows and discovers with the characters.
Brian as he pursues the truth and Neil as he realizes how negatively his relationship with the coach was, though he enjoyed it at the time. The use of dialogue is effective, sometimes with its absence and at times with its eloquence, specifically at the end when Neil is recounting the time he and Brian were molested by the coach together. I said the movie was not perfect, but I feel at a loss to critique what was wrong with a film that affects me this way and has me thinking deeply about it the day after. All I will say is that some of the plot twists seemed contrived or too convenient. 4.5 cats”
Hilary says: “Neil’s (Joseph Gordon-Leavitt) and Brian’s (Brady Corbett) lives are tragically affected by the terrible sexual abuse of their Little League coach. Raised by a negligent single mother (Elisabeth Shue), Neil is captivated by the muscled, mustachioed man who serves as both father figure and object of fantasy. Brian, on the other hand, blocks the memory and becomes convinced that the five hours missing from his memory are the result of an alien abduction. Meanwhile, Neil becomes a hustler and by 18 he estimates that has had sex with every man in his small Kansas town.
“This film is tough but wholly engrossing, ending on a far more hopeful note than director Gregg Araki’s previous films.
“I cannot give it 5 cats in good conscience because Michelle Trachtenberg is terrible as Neil’s best friend. 4 ½ cats”